Crunch time at Miccosukee Championship
BY Bruce Young | Nationwide Tour | 2008 Miccosukee Championship | Preview | 21 Oct 2008
The Nationwide Tour reaches a crucial stage at this week’s Miccosukee Championship in Miami, Florida with not only the race for a card on the 2009 PGA Tour being hotly contested but so too the battle for a place at next week’s Tour Championship.
All 60 players who make it into next week’s Tour Championship field in Dallas will mathematically have an opportunity to secure their card on the 2009 PGA Tour.
With a first prize of US$180,000 and a runner up cheque of US$108,000, a finish inside the top two will likely be good enough for even the lowest ranked player to advance to the PGA Tour.
While this week’s Mark Mahannah designed layout will not witness quite the same level of drama as next week at Craig Ranch in the suburbs of Dallas, there will be plenty of ‘what if’ stories at week’s end and perhaps the odd tear or two.
Last year, Marc Turnesa won this event and just last week he proved what a difference a big week in this tournament could make. After his breakthrough victory last week in Las Vegas, he is now a PGA Tour winner just twelve months after his one shot victory in this event allowed him access to the big-time and there will be many hoping for a similar break this week.
It would seem that the first 19 or so players on this year’s money list are all but assured of a place inside the all important top 25 at the completion of the Tour Championship, but the remaining six places are still up for grabs. The final amount required appears as if it will be somewhere around the US$210,000 mark although that is still a rapidly changing figure given the permutations involved.
Three Australians are now locked into moving up to the PGA Tour next year while Marc Leishman is currently 23rd despite his 11 shot victory in Texas two weeks ago. Despite making the cut last week he slipped four places and will likely need to find another US$10,000 out of the next two weeks.
Others in with a chance are Ewan Porter, despite slipping backwards in recent months, and Won Joon Lee whose game appears to be peaking at just the right time.
Lee moved to 47th following his 6th place last week in Chattanooga and his 4th in Texas behind Leishman. He is assured of a start in the Tour Championship but he will make next week’s task a little less difficult if he performs well here.
Porter won earlier in the season but it has been battle since and he now finds himself in 34th position. He will need to reverse a run of results that has seen him without a cheque since June.
Cameron Percy is in 57th position and is the only other Australasian inside the top 60 at present and the Victorian has produced some of his best golf in recent weeks.
